"Feel the romance of British royalty – Diana underwear," reads the poster from China's splendidly named Jealousy International brand. Inspect it closely and the woman is, of course, a lookalike.

But while the advert prompted censure in the UK, it caused hardly a ripple in China, where improbable celebrity "endorsements" have a long, if not distinguished, pedigree.

Jeremy Goldkorn, who runs the Beijing-based media website danwei.org (a partner of the Guardian) says using images of stars on products without their knowledge has been popular since 2003, when several real estate developers claimed Bill Clinton as a spokesman. The current US president has proved no less commercially-minded, apparently taking a break from governing to plug the "Blockberry Whirlwind" smartphone (not, of course, to be confused with the BlackBerry Storm).

Obama then joined forces with Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to promote the Ivy Garden apartment block in Shaanxi. Developers plastered giant images of the three across billboards around the site, until killjoy officials ordered their removal. Apparently, they were the teensiest bit suspicious that Buffett's quote – "This is the most important investment of my life" – did not originally refer to the complex.

Entertainers are also popular choices; Kelly Brook and Mena Suvari discovered their images had been plastered across the front of Chinese condom packets.

Some may find it hard to sympathise with highly paid celebrities who miss out on a few thousand extra yuan. But the ads can hit their image – and pride – as well as their bank balances. It's one thing to be exploited to flog apartments; another to be recruited as the face of erectile dysfunction. Sean Connery was forced to threaten legal action after learning that he was "starring" in adverts for an anti-impotence drug alongside David Beckham – who was similarly furious. The badly dubbed ads for USA Selikon featured Goldenballs and his wife with "Beckham" announcing in Chinese that the medicine was "the secret weapon with which I can satisfy Victoria".

Luckily Chinese consumers don't take the ads at face value. "I don't think Chinese people really trust celebrity endorsements anyway – but they can make a product stand out from the crowd. That's why companies continue to do it," says Goldkorn.

And affronted western stars should spare a thought for their Chinese counterparts. When Muzimei shot to fame for her graphic sex blog, entrepreneurs were swift to use her name for products without her permission. The condoms and underwear might have been predictable. But few would relish lending their name to a rat poison.